Academic support system allows Alabama athletes to excel in classroom

C.J. Mosley didn't return to the University of Alabama only to try to win another national championship. The senior linebacker is on his way to a degree in human and environmental sciences.

By Kelly WardSpecial to The Tuscaloosa News

C.J. Mosley didn't return to the University of Alabama only to try to win another national championship. The senior linebacker is on his way to a degree in human and environmental sciences.He said it is important that people see him as a student-athlete and not just as a football player.“I think it's important because you never want to be a stereotype because everybody sees a football player and is like, 'Oh, he gets everything easy, this and that,' but it's a lot of hard work, especially playing football with Coach (Nick) Saban, especially like coming (after) practice, had a rough practice today, then you've got a study hall 30 minutes right after you're done with practice. So your mind changes real quick from football to classwork,” Mosley said.He isn't the only athlete to try to shrug off the stereotype. Men's basketball junior guard Levi Randolph has spent three years at UA on the court and in the classroom.“The first thing about student-athletes is the student,” Randolph said. “Student comes first. I feel like it's very important to take pride in your academics.”Randolph's father came up with an analogy to keep his son focused on what was important.“My dad would always tell me, if you stood on a ball, how long could you stand on it, how long could you balance?” Randolph said. “I mean, just for so long, not too long, but if you stand on a book, you could probably stand on that forever. So books would be the most important thing.”He scored a career-high 20 points in a Dec. 4 win over North Florida, but basketball wasn't the only thing on his mind. He is on his way to getting a degree in business marketing.“It will feel really good. I mean, knowing that I got a degree, I have something that will last forever for my lifetime. But I think once I get my degree, it's not going to be the end of school for me,” Randolph said.He has plans to pursue a master's in marketing and to go to law school. First, he has to finish his undergraduate studies. Along the way, he has the chance to become the first Alabama men's basketball player to receive a College Sports Information Directors of America Academic All-American award.UA has a history of Academic All-Americans. Since 2000, Alabama is fifth in NCAA Division I and first in the Southeastern Conference with 78. In the past year, the SEC led the nation in All-Americans, and Alabama led the SEC. Alabama's 10 NCAA Elite 89 Award recipients rank second to Stanford. The award was established four years ago to honor the student-athlete with the highest grade-point average at each NCAA championship. The UA football and men's basketball teams both earned the NCAA's APR Public Recognition Award for 2012-13. The only other Division I school to do that in the past year was Duke. The Crimson Tide football team posted the highest NCAA APR Score in the SEC for that season.Senior golfer Cory Whitsett earned first-team Academic All-America honors in 2012 and was a first-team All-American in the same year. He is earning a degree in business management before turning pro.“I guess, to an extent, it's like running your own small business,” Whitsett said. “You've got to cover expenses and play well to get your money coming in and then manage that a little bit. So, hopefully, I'll do that for a long time.”Coming to Tuscaloosa was an adjustment for the Houston native. Despite having to leave his friends behind in Texas, he said his team is like an extended family. That support, he said, helps with his schoolwork.“Our team's really close,” Whitsett said. “All the players are close. We're close with our coaches. We're not the kind of team that goes, 'Oh, crap, there's Coach.' It's 'Oh, hey, there's Coach,' and wanting to go talk to him. We just really enjoy being around each other, and I think that really helps with my success on the golf course and in the classroom.”Whitsett wasn't the only UA athlete to receive first-team Academic All-American honors last year. Stephanie Meadow received the same award and was also an All-American on the golf course while maintaining a perfect 4.0 GPA in accounting.What makes it different for her is that she is from Northern Ireland.“I mean, people are kind of oblivious over there because universities don't have sports in Ireland, so it's kind of a whole different world to them. But once you explain it to them, they get it that it's hard to be an athlete and a student at the same time, and definitely they recognize it, and it's nice,” Meadow said.She had wanted to come to the United States since she was 13 or 14. She said she and her parents checked out UA and its colleges before she made a decision.“If I just wanted to be an athlete, I would be pro already and play on tours,” she said, “but I wanted to get my degree because it's something that I think, personally, everybody should at least try. And it's something that, you never know what's going to happen to golf — you could get injured, you could not play as well — and to have something to fall back on is something pretty special.”